A dot printer is known in which the printing mode can be selected from a plurality of printing modes having different dot densities such as LQ (letter quality), NLQ (near letter quality), Draft, etc. A printing mode of a highest dot density is LQ, and then, NLQ, and Draft follow in order.
In a conventional printer, even if a printing mode can be selected, printing conditions are constant. Therefore, when a printing mode of a high dot density is selected, the number of times of hits of a needle against a platen per unit time is large, which may cause a problem of a high noise level.